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Music Interview: Jenny Don’t and the Spurs

It’s a miracle that Fire On The Ridge, the latest album from Portland’s alt-country-Americana-garage-rock-punk outlaws, Jenny Don’t and the Spurs, was ever made.

Named after a forest fire that forced the band to make a detour when they were playing a local show, the record was held up when the studio sessions were interrupted by singer/rhythm guitarist Jenny Don’t needing surgery on her vocal cords.

When recording recommenced, the hard drive containing these tracks crashed, so the group had to start all over again. Then the studio caught fire, flooded and needed to be rebuilt. 

Just as everything seemed to be back on track, COVID-19 struck, which put a stop to any in-person mixing of the album. 

Unbelievably, when the record was finally completed, things sadly took an even darker turn – the band’s drummer, Sam Henry, died of cancer.

“Every summer in Oregon there’s either a deluge of biblical proportions with crazy flooding, or there’s a drought and everything dries out and gets really combustible – we have massive forest fires every year,” says bassist Kelly Halliburton. “We had to drive through one, but we got diverted. It was terrifying.”

Jenny Don't and the Spurs

Adds Don’t: “The sky was bright red and people were being evacuated – it was crazy. It was hard for it not to have a lasting impression on you. The fire was started by a kid with fireworks.”

Says Halliburton: “We did a detour to escape the fire but by the time we’d played the show and were driving back, at three or four in the morning, it was pitch black and the road was open because it was safe, but there were still glowing embers all over the hillside – it was like driving through hell or a lava field. It was the most incredible thing we’d ever seen.”

hi-fi+ is talking to Halliburton and his wife, Don’t, backstage at the UK-based Americana festival, The Ramblin’ Roots Revue, in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, where the band have just played an incendiary show on their first ever tour of the UK. 

SH: So, you had a rough time making the album?

JD: We had been touring and my voice was getting worse, but we got all the music done and it was time to do the vocals. Kelly and the engineer were like, ‘This isn’t how it should sound – it doesn’t sound like you.’ 

So, we decided to postpone the vocals and I got some surgery – it was about 12 weeks’ recovery. Then the hard drive crashed – we thought we’d recovered everything but ours was the only stuff that got totally lost. It was kind of a silver lining…

KH: It forced us to redo it. 

JD: The recording we have now has more energy – it’s better and much brighter. When we were in the writing process, I had no inflections in my voice – I lost a lot of octaves and I sounded tired. 

And then the studio got hit by fire and a flood…

JD: We recorded in the basement – we had pizza in the kitchen.

When we went to do the mixing, a dog had gotten onto the stove, turned it on and a pizza box caught fire – the kitchen was on fire.

KH: It was an inferno – we were trapped in the basement. There was fire and water in the studio. 

JD: Then COVID-19 happened and everything shut down – we didn’t mix together – and a water heater exploded and flooded the studio.

Your drummer, Sam, who played on the record, died after it was finished… 

KH: We got to tour that album with Sam – we did most of the summer of 2021 with him and played a bunch of shows with Charley Crockett. 

The songs on the 12in EP that’s just come out [Lovesick Crawl] are his last recordings with us – he recorded the six songs and then we took him to the hospital the next day. 

They gave him three months and he didn’t even last three weeks. It was terrible – one of the most traumatic things we’ve ever been through. He was family to us – we loved him.

This is the first time you’ve toured the UK. How’s it going?

KH: It’s going great – we’re doing seven shows and this is our fourth. I used to come over here in the ‘90s and play with punk bands. The last time I toured the UK was in 2003, and my band, Pierced Arrows, played All Tomorrow’s Parties in 2010. We played solid, garage-rock stuff.

Jenny Don't and the Spurs
Photo: Lisa Dibbern

 

[To KH]: How did you meet Jenny?

KH: She started coming to Pierced Arrows shows and she noticed me…

JD: I was standing upfront at one of the shows and I thought, ‘I want to know him,’ so I wrote him a message on Myspace. Remember Myspace?

I do. 

KH: It kind of developed from there – it’s a rock ‘n’ roll love story. We got married last year – we got together in 2009. We took our time.

JD: Do you know the band Poison Idea from Portland? The singer, Jerry A., married us…

KH: He’s an ordained minister – he officiated. Portland’s a pretty tight-knit scene and Poison Idea are a prominent band – we’ve been friends for ever.

[To JD]: So, what were you doing before you formed Jenny Don’t and the Spurs?

JD: I had a punk-rock band called Don’t, with our drummer, Sam, from the Spurs, who passed away recently. Him and I also did acoustic stuff at restaurants for fun. The Spurs are more natural to me – Don’t was fun, but I like the Spurs better.

KH: We wanted to shake it up a little – we were in loud bands that were touring the punk and the garage circuit, but we wanted to do something that was a little more laid-back. It started off with just the two of us.

So, have you always been into country music?

KH: Yeah – when I grew up, in the ‘80s, in America, roots music was very popular – the old stuff, like Roy Orbison and Johnny Cash. It was always around. If you like music, it’s good music and you recognise that, regardless. Even though I was into punk rock and garage, at a certain point in the night, a Patsy Cline record would go on. 

Very late in the evening…

KH: Exactly.

JD: I grew up listening to that and I used to do rodeo – my mom was the Central Wyoming rodeo queen. I was born in New Mexico, but I grew up in Washington and then I moved to Portland to play music. I met Kelly and Sam Henry pretty much within a month of moving there – we linked up and have been together ever since. 

Do you write songs together?

JD: Yeah – a lot of the time I’ll have an idea, but I won’t know if it’s good, and Kelly’s really good at encouraging the song to move to the next stage. He’ll introduce it to the band and we’ll build it from there. Sometimes I’ll have a whole song written, but we’ll piece it together to be a little more dynamic. I write on an acoustic a lot of the time.

KH: She comes up with the basic structure and I help a lot with the arrangements and sometimes the lyrics.

Let’s talk about some of the songs on the album. I love the title track – it’s a galloping garage-country-rock song – but ‘California Cowboy’ and ‘Restless Moon’ have an old school country feel, and ‘Friday Night’, which is one of my favourites, is like a Patsy Cline song…

JD: It’s funny – ‘California Cowboy’ was my least favourite, but it’s Kelly’s favourite. That’s the most requested song… I should’ve listened to him. 

There’s a good mix of country and rock ‘n’ roll on the record…

JD: The songs are different, but they’re all cohesive. That’s why I like this band – we can do that and not be pigeonholed. We like all kinds of music and it’s fun to try and incorporate all our influences.

‘Trouble On My Mind’ is the heaviest track – full-on garage-rock-country-punk…

KH: We wanted to shake it up a little…

‘Queen of the Desert’ and ‘Johnny Vagabond’ are also two of my favourites. I love the mysterious, cinematic Western noir / Ennio Morricone feel, with twangy guitar… 

JD: Yeah. So many artists are like, ‘I’m the queen of blah-blah-blah, this or that…’ I want to be the queen of random stuff – the queen of the flies, buzzing around me, or the queen of the cactus, or the queen of all of it. How about that?

KH: ‘Johnny Vagabond’ is a cover song – it’s by Bonnie Guitar. She was one of the only prominent female country artists in the Pacific North West in the ‘40s and ‘50s and co-founded the Dolton Records label. She was really prolific but no one really knows her.

So, is there a new album planned? I guess you’re hoping for better luck with the next one…

JD: Yeah – the only thing that’s holding it back is that we’ve been touring so much. We’re not at home long enough to record it. 

We’re trying to do two albums – we want to do a trail songs album and a follow up to Fire On The Ridge at the same time. We’re working on it. 

Fire On The Ridge is out now on Fluff & Gravy Records – vinyl, CD and digital.

Jenny Don't and the Spurs

www.jennydontandthespurs.com

Back to Music

WK Audio TheRed power cord

WK Audio is a Polish brand making power cords and equipment-support platforms. The company’s TheRed is the top model in its line of power cords. Components of the highest calibre are the natural home for TheRed. But, WK Audio TheRed power cord also has game-raising properties. As a result, it brings out the best in any audio product.

According to Witold ‘Witek’ Kamiñski, the architect-turned-audiophile behind WK Audio, TheRed is the product of a year spent designing and listening to the cable, testing and rejecting many solutions. Because of this, I’d class TheRed as one of the more successful lockdown projects.

Our chief weapon is surprise!

I will struggle not to channel the Spanish Inquisition sketch by Monty Python’s Flying Circus here. WK Audio TheRed’s chief weapon is its structure. Structure and geometry. Its two main weapons are structure, geometry, and well-chosen materials… among its arsenal are such diverse weapons as mechanical structure, geometry, materials, socketry, and nice red jackets.

WK Audio TheRed power cord

Joking aside, this hand-made cable is most easily recognised by those red jackets and three aluminium spacer beams that help entirely separate live, neutral, and earth conductors. WK Audio TheRed’s spacers add a degree of vibration damping to the whole power cord. In creating three separated and parallel conductors, the cable’s basic electrical parameters – resistance, capacitance, and inductance – are less prone to variation due to layout when compared to conductors coiled around one another. Of course, using high-purity copper conductors with an 18mm2 gauge (roughly five gauge in Imperial measurements) dramatically helps.

Parallel Lines

The parallel conductors only connect at the terminations. As a result, if you live outside of the UK, that means high-grade Furutech connectors at each cable end. Regrettably, Furutech doesn’t make a UK equivalent to the FI-E50 used in the EU or the FI-50M used in the US, but Witek has sourced a fairly good alternative. But that plug represents a sonic log jam, and the EU or US versions of WK Audio TheRed sounds even better!  

That must make the EU version of this cable damn special, because – even with the UK plug in place – the biggest criticism of WK Audio TheRed is grammatical. Do I call it ‘The TheRed’ or just ‘TheRed’? Regardless, it’s a cable that combines all the elements of a power cord. Many power cords are best used with big power amps or smaller streamers or preamps; TheRed is best used with ‘audio equipment’ of any kind. That’s rare at this level of performance.

It’s among the least ‘hi-fi’ sounding power cords around. However, WK Audio TheRed also retains all those key aspects audiophiles crave. We want that articulate detail, good soundstaging, and large-scale and small-scale dynamic range and shade from our systems. But by not drawing attention to itself or to the product to which it’s connected, it makes that product seem more natural and musical. 

The flair for no glare

What I like about WK Audio TheRed sound is its absence of glare or high-frequency emphasis. It won’t tame bright-sounding systems; after all, it’s a cable, not a tone control. However, it will bring out bass depth and energy with freedom and effortlessness. And that reflects how music sounds in the wild. 

WK Audio TheRed power cord

That richness to the sound of WK Audio TheRed shines through as a sense of harmonic structure to the sound. It’s as if the musicians rehearsed more and tuned up more accurately!

Good power cords show their worth, even outside their comfort zone. The best WK Audio power cord works with equipment costing a King’s Ransom or cheaper than TheRed because it shines regardless. Excellent! 

Price and contact details

Price (as reviewed): €4,500/1.5 m

Manufacturer

WK Audio

www.wkaudio.com

Back to Reviews

Computer Audio Design launches new Ethernet Control

February 22, 2024 – Computer Audio Design (CAD) firmly believes that reducing unwanted high frequency noise in a hi-fi system audibly improves the system’s sound quality.  To that end, the company has pioneered a portfolio of highly effective solutions to the problem, and now adds the new Ethernet Control, designed to enable a significant advancement of the musical performance of streaming-based and file-replay systems.

Underpinning the design of the new Ethernet Control is CAD’s 14 years’ experience in developing their multi-award winning 1543 DAC, CAD Audio Transport, USB Cables, USB Control and Ground Control products, along with company founder Scott Berry’s in-depth knowledge of computer-based audio as a whole.

The Ethernet Control is engineered to reduce unwanted high frequency noise on the Ethernet network connection in audio and video equipment. It will deliver audible results with both streaming services (Spotify, TIDAL, Qobuz, etc) and with locally stored music files.  Appealingly, the device is small, unobtrusive and simple to use.

The Ethernet Control effectively addresses noise on the differential Ethernet signals, and additionally on the signal ground and the Ethernet interface, of your networked audio device. This is achieved by way of custom CAD noise reduction technology borrowed from the company’s successful Ground Controls and USB Control. CAD’s own proprietary transformers deliver galvanic isolation along with greater reduction of noise over a larger frequency spectrum than standard Ethernet transformers. In addition, a directly connected custom-built, ultra-thick gold-plated RJ45 plug minimizes impedance between the server/computer or DAC/streamer and the noise reduction technology inside the Ethernet Control. The unit’s non-conductive outer acrylic case is designed to offer an attractive compact enclosure with vibration dampening.

The Ethernet Control is intended for use with audio source components such as servers, computers, streamers and DACs, and also with amplifiers and other analogue components with RJ45 connections for service, control or configuration.

It could not be more simple to add to your system: just plug your network Ethernet cable into the RJ45 socket of the Ethernet Control, and then insert the Ethernet Control RJ45 plug into your server/computer or DAC/streamer.

CAD recommends placing the Ethernet Control at the final termination of the Ethernet cable as it enters your audio system.  However, additional units can also be located at multiple connection points on the network to give further sound quality improvement. For example, try a second Ethernet Control on the input or output of a network switch, router and/or server/computer.

The Ethernet Control is hand-assembled and individually tested in the UK.

Pricing and availability

The new CAD Ethernet Control is available now, priced as follows:

UK (inc VAT):    £1,250
USA:                $1,250

 

Computer Audio Design products are sold through specialist dealers in the UK and worldwide. For more information:

www.computeraudiodesign.com

[email protected]

UK: 0203 397 0334 (+44 203 397 0334 if calling from outside the UK)

USA: 541 728 3199 (+1 541 728 3199 if calling from outside the USA)

Album Review: Bennett Wilson Poole – I Saw A Star Behind Your Eyes, Don’t Let It Die Away

It’s been five years since British trio Bennett Wilson Poole – Robin Bennett (Goldrush, Dreaming Spires), Danny Wilson (Grand Drive, Danny and the Champions of the World), and Tony Poole (Starry Eyed and Laughing) – hit the UK Americana scene like a hurricane with their brilliant, self-titled debut album.

The band picked up UK Artist of the Year at the 2019 UK Americana Awards – they collected their trophy in front of an audience that included Graham Nash himself – and soon established a loyal fanbase, as they became a live tour de force and a firm festival favourite. 

Their first album was intended to be a one-off collaborative project, but Bennett and Wilson soon found themselves working on new material. Sadly, due to Covid restrictions and also Poole suffering from health issues, album number two was delayed, but the good news is that he is now fighting fit and the record is out this spring – and, what’s more, it’s even better than its predecessor.

It doesn’t mess around. “Are you ready to rumble?” asks Wilson, before opening song, ‘I Saw Love’ kicks in – which is life-affirming and harmonic power pop, like The Byrds and The Beatles.

Poole, who as well as being a studio wizard – his inventive and playful production techniques transform Bennett and Wilson’s songs into gloriously rich pocket symphonies – is also king of the jangly, electric 12-string Rickenbacker guitar, which features prominently in the band’s sound, as does their superb vocal harmonies and arrangements.

Poole takes great delight in telling us that the ending of ‘I Saw Love’ features a sixth note harmony like The Beatles’ ‘She Loves You’. It’s just one of many moments on the album that reference classic rock and pop songs – listeners will have fun trying to spot them all. 

Anyone for a game of Bennett Wilson Poole bingo? I’ll start you off – ‘Tie-Dye T-Shirt’ has an intro that pays homage to The Who’s ‘Won’t Get Fooled Again’ and features a vocal refrain of ‘open up your eyes,’ which echoes ‘Everlasting Love’ by ‘60s British pop band Love Affair.

“When Danny and Robin first laid down the basic voice and acoustic guitar track, they’d envisaged it as a Gram Parsons-type country song – little did they know,” says Poole. “I’d already somehow been inspired to reference The Who, but I don’t know where that came from – no special pills were involved.”

Bennett Wilson Poole’s first album was in love with the vintage sounds of America’s West Coast, but this collection of songs owes more to British ‘60s psych-pop like The Beatles and The Zombies. 

Ironically, though, ‘I Wanna Love You (But I Can’t Right Now)’ is about having a love/hate relationship with the USA – how the country’s dark political situation over the past few years has overshadowed all the great culture and art it has produced throughout history.

It’s an irresistible and infectious song and one of the album’s few country rock moments. 

The other is the gorgeous and nostalgic ‘Cry At The Movies’. Written about an old man who was born at the start of World War II and fell in love with the silver screen, it sounds like Neil Young teaming up with The Byrds circa Sweetheart of the Rodeo.

Album closer, the dream-like ‘The Sea and The Shore’, is a heartfelt and moving plea for unity, which started off with Bennett at his piano.

“I played everything else on it,” explains Poole. “It was a bit like Jeff Lynne working on John Lennon’s home recordings to create ‘Free As A Bird’ and ‘Real Love’. Danny put some harmonies on the verses too.”

He adds: “As a final reminder, I extended the last chord in the way that ‘A Day In The Life’ does. It just seemed that the song’s sentiments should still be playing for ever, long after the record was over.”

This is a fab album; all old-fashioned pop music, and classic rock ‘n’ roll. What’s not to love about that?

Back to Music

Bristol Hi-Fi Show 2024: See You There!

Now celebrating its 35th year, the Bristol Hi-Fi Show 2024 looks set to be better than ever. Starting on Friday 23rd of February and running until Sunday 25th February, the show returns to the now-revised and refreshed Delta Hotels by Marriott Bristol City Centre, in Lower Castle Street, Bristol, BS1 3AD.

Set across seven floors, the show brings together the best in hi-fi and home cinema systems from the UK and beyond. Big names in UK audio such as Arcam, Linn, Naim, and PMC rub shoulders with the finest international brands, including Dynaudio, GoldenEar, and Innuos.

We will be at the show with our regular stand (Conservatory 8), bringing you the latest issue, exclusive subscription offers, and back issues… so you never miss a hi-fi+ review!

Things to look out for…

The Bristol Hi-Fi Show has become a launchpad for many new products from the UK audio scene. Here are some of the highlights we know are coming, that you can see for the first time in Bristol:

Chord Electronics Ultima Integrated: The new £8,500 125 watt integrated amplifier from Chord Electronics uses the Ultima circuitry seen in its latest power amplifiers, but in a single-box. It might just be all the amp you need…

New ULTIMA INTEGRATED available globally

 

Exposure 360: Exposure is best known for its amplifiers and digital source components, but now it looks set to make a striking new £1,300 turntable with power supply made in collaboration with a ‘leading British turntable manufacturer’. Find out more this weekend.

Exposure Electronics 360

Fyne Audio: Something new is coming from Fyne Audio. We know what it is but if we tell anyone, they’ll drown us in whisky. That might take some time, so you might as well nip over to their exhibit at the Bristol Hi-Fi Show and find out more…

Innuos PULSAR, innuOs 2.6: Innuos will be showing its PULSAR network music player for the first time in the UK and the company has just updated its innuOs software for its players and servers. Find out more at the company’s immersive AB demonstrations at the show.

Leema Quantum: The new Neutron DAC/Preamp and Graviton power amplifier will be launched at the show. The duo offer 13 inputs including a MM/MC stage, a 150W Class A amplifier, and weigh in at just £1,500 each, or £2,800 for the pair. Find out more this weekend.

Linn Klimax Solo 800: The latest flagship mono power amplifier from the Scottish audio legend looks set to take the high-end by storm. The powerful, cool running amplifier bristles with technology and comes from a brand that knows how to make a good sound. We expect a lot from this £37,500 powerhouse!

Pearl Acoustics 170: The British audio company best known for its loudspeakers has been working on something special behind the scenes: the new 170 power amplifier. We’ve been lucky to get one for the first review coming soon on the pages of hi-fi+ but you get to hear it first this weekend!

Plus much, much more…

The show is more than just a place to see and hear the best. Audio T, the store behind the show, offer spectacular deals on the day. You hear it, you buy it… and buy it for a great price!

The Bristol Hi-Fi Show 2024

Back to Home

Zeiler Audio PR-01 and PA-01

The audio reviewer as an explorer? No one is going to believe that. Granted, sitting at home listening to music all day doesn’t make you the Neil Armstrong of hi-fi, but bear with me. A part of the modern audio reviewer’s role is to explore new products and put the best of them in front of the buying public. Such is the case with the excellent Zeiler Audio PR-01 preamplifier and its new matching PA-01 power amplifier.

The days of reviewers as ‘kingmakers’ are – hopefully – behind us all, but there is an understandable conservatism about new product purchases. Because of the price tags involved, buyers gravitate toward established names, thinking the brand is more likely to be around and more commonly known should repairs be needed and that it will have good residuals on the second-hand market. However, this often results in an overly conservative market, where just a handful of big-name brands sell to the same buyers time after time. The problem with this is two-fold; the big-name brand is tied to the requirements of an increasingly ageing community of buyers, and newcomers (either as manufacturers or new buyers) are left out of the equation.

When one amp became two

The Swiss-made Zeiler Audio is a perfect example of how we must collectively think beyond those big, well-established names. The company began with just one product – the PR-01 preamplifier – but quickly added a matching PA-01 power amplifier. Ralf Zeiler designed both products to disappear from the audio chain functionally, leaving just music behind. It’s a goal expressed by many but achieved by few… but I think Zeiler might have nailed it. 

Zeiler Audio PR-01

Zeiler’s first product, the PR-01, is a four-input valve preamplifier with four ECC83 valves accessed through two heavy top panels. The three line-level and one MM phono input are all RCA connections. Two of the line-level inputs have Lundahl input transformers, while the third one is 6dB more sensitive than the others. This fourth input helps accommodate older audio electronics (which might have an output voltage of around 1V), where more modern designs like streamers (that can have outputs in the 2.5V range or higher).

The preamp output has a source/tape output for tape monitoring or to connect external headphone amplifiers. There are also ‘direct’ and unbalanced RCA and XLRs with a balanced or unbalanced operation. Direct, as the name suggests, is the high-purity link for those who can keep a short distance between the preamp and power amp. At the same time, the two last connections include an additional output stage for driving super-low impedance power amps or long interconnect cables. The balanced outputs are fed through Lundahl output transformers, with different taps for each option.

Similar style

The newer PA-1 is styled similarly but with fewer controls than the three-knob PR-01. The two 12AX7/ECC83 input valves and the pair of KT150 power valves used to develop the amp’s 10-watt output are cleverly hidden in the side cheeks of the amp itself, allowing for easy, tool-free access and replacement. The amp can take its power on and off instructions from the preamp. Biasing and adjustment aren’t issues with just one power valve per side. The amp is choke regulated and is filled with paper-in-oil capacitors and custom-made Lundahl C-core transformers.

Ralf Zeiler is a hand-wired, point-to-point designer of the old school, and it shows throughout!

Zeiler Audio PA-01

Let’s talk about build quality. Swiss-made usually means expensive and well-made, but even by those standards, Zeiler stands apart. Both are built to an impeccable standard, CNC machined out of solid billets of aluminium and then glass-bead-blasted and treated to an ceramic form of anodising… all combine to give this velvety-feeling “none, none more black” amplifier duo the kind of solidity of build and finish that few can match. 

Girthy

The only way it could get any more ‘girthy’ would be if it were built out of bits of Swiss Alp, and to damage that finish would require a chisel, which would be a crime against quality construction! 

The internal construction and parts list is equally impressively solid. Nothing’s left to chance here, and as a result, this feels like a pair of ‘deep time’ products. They are the kind of products you might put in a time capsule to play music of today to future generations. Although why future generations would want to listen to ‘I Am Free’ by Tones And I or ‘Cowboys And Angels’ by Jessie Murph escapes me.

Ralf Zeiler is a big fan of classic Tannoy studio monitors, which goes some way to understanding the genesis of the PA-01. When you are used to the effortless efficiency and scale of big Tannoy designs (or similar), powerful amplifiers become less of a requirement and more of a millstone around the neck of the loudspeakers. You become aware that, in many cases, the higher the power, the less ‘dynamic’ the dynamic range. 

Quality and quantity

Once you begin to parse this design process, your respect for the Zeiler amps goes through the roof. These are simultaneously some of the most cultured and refined-sounding amplifiers and can also give the dynamic force and energy needed to place you in the room with the musicians. Usually, amplifiers that are this refined sounding are ‘beauteous’ with all the raw edges smoothed off. And, equally usually, amplifiers that do this much dynamic energy and excitement are a little too ‘edge of the seat’ for all kinds of musical listening. The Zeiler Audio duo are rare for doing both equally well.

A perfect example of this double-handed approach is the recent Bach Trios on Nonesuch, featuring Yo Yo Ma on Cello, Chris Thile on mandolin and Edgar Meyer on bass. These are pieces of raw energy, and the mandolin gives the recordings a freshness and vibrancy that makes them sound new. Too much ‘gloss’ and the recording becomes too sanitised; too much ‘zing’ and the recording loses its music integrity and flow. But on the Zeiler pairing, this trio sounds magical.

Zeiler Audio PA-01

This is, in part, a divine balance, with the sublime elegance of the preamp being the perfect foil for the excitement and dynamism of the power amp. But, such combinations often don’t balance as well as these two do, suggesting that – beyond all things – their shared goals of performing a musical disappearing act drive the Zeiler Audio performance. 

Zen and the art of sound quality

I could get very Zen koan in all this – what is the sound of no sound? – but these amps are more about the realisation than the soul-searching. I played the live version of Donny Hathaway’s ‘The Ghetto’ followed by the studio version of his cover of ‘Misty’, then the live versions of his covers of ‘Jealous Guy’ and ‘You’ve Got A Friend.’ Most other amps do ‘detail’ or ‘sounstage’ or ‘vocal articulation’ well, and the Zeiler duo are no exception in this, but it was the Zeiler duo that made me think how sad it was that Hathaway died so young, and how wonderful that voice was. For someone who has been playing those albums for decades, it is profound to get past the surface listening and go for a deep dive into why I enjoy them so much. 

Zeiler Audio PR-01

Granted, the low power output of the PA-01 shapes your options for loudspeakers in a way an amplifier with 20x the power doesn’t. But I’d struggle to find a more powerful amplifier that interacts quite as directly with your music. It’s like getting all the good parts of a single-ended triode design – that sense of effortless, dynamic ‘thereness’ of putting you in the room with the musicians – without the drawbacks of increased distortion (even if it’s benign even-order harmonic distortion, it still adds thickening to the sound) and noise. In fact, with the right loudspeakers, it’s the best of all worlds. And even with not-so-right loudspeakers, as so often your sound is defined by that first watt, the PA-01 makes a very fair case for itself.

The best and worst of us

The shortcomings of both Zeiler Audio amps are more about ‘us’ than the products. The degree of minimalism here might be too much for some to swallow. ‘Shiny, flashy bling’ in Zeiler speak is everyone else’s ‘dark and brooding looking’. This isn’t detracting from the performance or operation; the build quality is fantastic. But if you want indicator lights, Zeiler isn’t for you.

I also suspect the ‘us’ part will extend to that 10W power output. No amount of saying “it doesn’t matter” will reach those who seem set on measuring their ‘audio cred points’ by their amplifier’s output. It’s incredibly frustrating to say how dynamic, powerful, and effortless and how clean an amplifier like the PA-01 sounds, only to have any such sentences excised by someone who has probably never been within 20 miles of the amp. However, that has never stopped people from making their decisions and shouting loudly to defend them.

Self-interest

There is another thing, and it’s pure self-interest on my part. I think the prospective Zeiler Audio buyer isn’t going to come back a few years later to buy a new amp. This is their “I’m done” product that will stop the audiophilia nervosa. And, as an audio reviewer, I don’t want people to do that. I want people to keep returning and buying the magazine or reading the website. 

Zeiler Audio PA-01

So I’m talking to the adults here. The ones who aren’t swayed by displays, famous names or on-paper specifications. The ones who appreciate a product that is made to be as uncompromising in sound as in build. The ones prepared to make changes and even sacrifices for the best in sound. It is for them that the Zeiler Audio PR-01 and PA-01 are made. Let the ‘little ones’ play with their shiny toys, changing them with the wind as they get bored; that’s not for you. You want to hear the music as it was meant to be played, without the imposition of a sonic signature from the electronics. And as such, the Zeiler Audio PR-01 and PA-01 are for you. Start saving! 

Technical specifications

PR-01 preamp and phono stage

  • Design: Single-Ended Class A Pure Triode
  • Inputs: 1 × Phono MM, 2 × AUX / Line Level, 1 × AUX / high sensitivity (for vintage equipment) 
  • Input Impedance: 47 kOhm (Phono MM), 1 MOhm (all other inputs)
  • Outputs: 1 × Direct Output, 1 × Balanced / XLR, 1 × Unbalanced / RCA, 1 × Source / Tape Output
  • Tubes: 4× 12AX7 / ECC83 / ECC803S / E83CC / 7025
  • Power Consumption: 16 W in operation, no stand-by
  • Dimensions (W×D×H): 37.3 × 36 × 11.3cm
  • Weight: 11.6kg
  • Price: £29,950

PA-01 power amplifier

  • Design: Single-ended pure class A power amplifier
  • Power output: 2 × 10 Watt
  • Mode: Triode connected, no feedback
  • Input Impedance: 470 kOhms
  • Output Impedance: 4/8 Ohms or 8/16 Ohms option
  • Tubes: 2 × KT150, 2 × 12AX7 / ECC83
  • Power Consumption: 180W in operation, no stand-by
  • Dimensions (W×D×H): 48 × 36 × 11.3 cm
  • Weight: 22.2 kg
  • Price: £29,950

Manufacturer

Zeiler Audio

www.zeiler.audio

UK distributor

Digital Audio Consultancy Services

+44(0)7776 511691

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Exposure VXN

External phono stages are a relatively recent development for Exposure. The company still produces (rather good) internal moving magnet and moving coil phono cards for many of their integrated amps and preamps and this will be entirely sufficient for many customers. Nevertheless, the option of appealing to people whose compulsions will only be settled by having their phono circuitry in a separate box and competing for the attention of people who own amps without internal phono cards has resulted in the arrival of standalone models of which the VXN is the new flagship.

The VXN might be seen as ‘expediently new’ in that it is a refinement of some existing thinking and makes use of a device that is already in the range. The phono circuit is a development of the one in the XM3; the other Exposure standalone phono stage which has been in the range for some years. The VXN has the same combination of a dedicated moving magnet input and a separate moving coil input that is configured via dip switches on the back. I’ve never been a huge fan of this arrangement and as I become older and more myopic I am still less keen but the ones that Exposure has selected are reasonably tactile. If you are relatively sane and have one cartridge to play records, you will set the VXN once and be done but it might be less appealing to those of you with a few on the go. 

Good range

Furthermore, the range of adjustment is pretty good. The moving magnet input fixes impedance at 47kOhms but allows for gain to be adjusted between 40 and 55dB which is handy for high output moving coil designs which will work into moving magnet inputs but tend to work just that little bit better with a bit more gain on hand. Moving coil gain is adjustable between 54 and 66dB which should also handle most gain requirements pretty well. The range of load adjustment for the moving coil section is also very good. Multiple increments are available between 32 and 1,000 ohms, the latter being very useful as one of the resident cartridges here is a Vertere Mystic which requires 1kOhm to sound its best. 

Exposure VXN

While the circuit is the same as the XM3, the VXN refines the process. There are more components in the moving coil stage and these are higher quality devices made of polystyrene, polypropylene and metallised polypropylene. The biggest revision though is that the internal power supply of the XM3 is removed and replaced with a pair of power supply inputs. This is potentially going to be a source of some confusion because you can technically purchase a VXN Phono on its own and be the proud owner of a well finished paperweight. 

The VXN Power Supply is required to run the phono stage and this has been around for some time as the power source for the exceptionally talented active crossover system that can be used with Kudos Titan speakers. It supplies two 30v DC outputs via the same locking connection as found on the phono stage. Technically, it’s possible to add a second VXN Power Supply so each channel has its own independent power feed but Exposure only supplied one for testing and I suspect the notion of a two plug phono stage is going to be a bit ‘full on’ for most people. 

Any Colour You Like

Both phono stage and PSU are in half width ‘XM’ style casework that is available in black only. Barring their brief foray into out and out design with the MCX Series a few years ago, Exposure has generally gone in for fairly sober looking devices and the VXN Phono is no exception. It’s well made though and in a time when LEDs can come in all manner of arresting colours, there’s something comforting about the red ones used here. Something else that’s worthy of note is that when I first installed the VXN, I kept power supply and phono a shelf apart but the arrival of other things meant they’ve also been tested stacked on top of one another and this hasn’t had any significant effect on noise levels. 

Exposure VXN-PS

In fact, the absence of noise full stop is notable. Even running at the 64dB gain level, the Exposure is seriously quiet and this has attendant benefits to absolutely everything else that it does. Listening initially via Vertere MG-1 MkII turntable, SG-1 HB arm and Mystic cartridge, the manner in which it handles the slow build up of Quail Poppy Ackroyd’s Resolve [One Little Indian] speaks to the fundamental engineering of the Exposure being absolutely correct. This is a deceptively simple piece of music- there’s nothing terribly complex about the melody but the unique technique both Ackroyd and Jo Quail bring to playing their instruments leaves it laden with micro detail that the VXN makes apparent. 

Tonal realism is also consistently good. The various instruments that make up the bluegrass rework of Sturgill Simpson’s All Around You on Cuttin’ Grass Vol I [High Top Mountain Records] are all captured in a manner that is unforced, natural and completely believable. Simpson himself is in good voice too with this distinctive tone and annunciation sounding as it should. Compared to some other phono stages I’ve tested at this sort of price point, the soundstage that the Exposure creates is smaller and it tends to sit between the speakers rather than extending beyond them but this is achieved without it tipping over into sounding congested. 

This also gives narrower recordings a focus that really benefits them and this does mean that the VXN is truly sensational when it comes to unpicking Indie rock LPs. The dense and potent In This Light and on This Evening by Editors [PIAS] is a case in point. The sweeping urgency of the synth line at the start of the title track that opens into the full fury of the band is something that the VXN delivers with an effortless combination of speed and control that also helps to ensure that bass is usefully deep but impeccably controlled at same time. It undersells the capabilities of the Exposure to say it’s a bit of a rocker but, if you’ve got a library of angsty guys and girls with guitars it’s not going to struggle. 

Admirable transparency

There’s an admirable transparency to the way that the VXN goes about its business too. It does a fine job of maintaining the Vertere’s ability to largely not be there (a skill that made it a pig to review but did result in me buying it) and when the MG-1 was used to review the Platanus 3.0S, it was the Exposure that highlighted its imperious ability to be unforced but incredibly involving at the same time (and that had the choice of low loading settings that really benefitted it). Switching to a Michell GyroDec, SME309 and Vertere DDT-II saw the Exposure capture the more propulsive nature of this combination and also benefit slightly from the near cinematic width that the Michell tends to bring to any record that you play on it. The reality is that there are unlikely to be any mainstream turntable arm and cartridge combinations that upset the VXN.

Exposure VXN-PS

There’s also an indefinable quality to the way that the VXN makes music that I’ve experienced in a few different Exposure devices of late. I’ve often felt that lumping the brand in with the ‘flat earth’ contingent did it something of a disservice. Sure, it times well but other priorities to the performance, particularly around tonal qualities and detail retrieval that are beyond reproach,  too. For every ballistic edge it can demonstrate, there was also effortless musicality it delivers so effusively and is no less arresting. 

The result is a formidable all rounder. Some people will want something more ornate and the VXN isn’t the best choice for multiple cartridge setups. The musical joy that the VXN brings to pretty much everything you play on it and the spread of equipment that it will work happily with at the same time makes this a tremendous device that continues Exposure’s tremendous recent run of form. 

Technical specifications

  • Type: MM/MC phono preamplifier
  • MM Input: Sensitivity 5mV for 500mV output, 40dB gain setting
  • S/N ratio (ref 1kHz and 500mV, A-weighted): >82dB
  • MC Input Sensitivity: 500mV for 500mV output, 60dB gain setting
  • S/N ratio (ref 1kHz and 500mV, A-weighted) >72dB
  • Nominal output 00mV (depending on gain setting)
  • Maximum Output: 7.8V @1kHz
  • Output Impedance: 50Ω
  • THD @ 1kHz ref 500mV output: <0.005%
  • Frequency response: 30Hz–20kHz ±0.25dB ref 1kHz with LF roll-off below 30Hz
  • Weight: 2kg
  • Dimensions (H×W×D): 9.9 × 21.8 × 34.8cm
  • Price £1,790 (PSU £1,090)

Manufacturer

Exposure

www.exposurehifi.com

+44(0)1273 423877

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Allnic Audio D-10000 DAC

There are several ways to crack the ‘Big DAC’ nut. You can eschew conventional DACs in favour of making your own design; Chord Electronics and dCS being prime examples. Or, taking the DAC as a given, you can engineer the bejesus out of the rest of the circuit. It’s this second route that Allnic Audio has taken with its D-10000 DAC. In auditioning, the results more than pay dividends. The full name of this device is the ‘Allnic Audio D-10000 OTL/OCL DAC’. Those extra six letters mark this converter out for greatness.

Those who like their valve/tube amps might recognise ‘OTL’ or ‘output transformer-less’. As the name suggests, OTL designs remove the transformer from the output stage of valve/tube circuits. Removing much of the iron and wire in the process. OTL designs feature in amplifiers like David Berning, Linear Tube, and Atma-Sphere. However, Allnic uses an OTL in the output stage of its DAC.  

The other three-letter acronym (OCL) is short for ‘output capacitor-less’. This means Allnic also does away with any capacitors in the signal path of the DAC’s output stage. Once again, this is unheard of in most amplifier circuits and is unique in DAC designs.

Why is this important? Two of the biggest sources of audio electronic coloration are the output transformers and capacitors in the signal path. They put several large sources of distortion between the digital conversion and the amplifier. Some might like that distortion, but it’s still a distortion.

Breed traits 

However, those who have had first-hand experience with OTL designs point to the immediacy and lack of coloration as characteristics of the breed. The D-10000 does nothing to change that observation. Also, designers strive to limit the impact of capacitors in any output stage. Once again, in listening to the D-10000, the signature dynamic freedom and grain-free high-frequency performance of low-or-no capacitor output stages shines through and more than applies here.

Were the Allnic Audio D-10000 simply a basic digital circuit with a ‘pimped out’ output stage sporting two pentode/triode 7258 tubes, two twin-triode 12AU7 tubes, and four 6C19P triodes, we’d be happy. However, Allnic Audio didn’t leave the digital part alone, either. And this could be one of those parts where things go very wrong, very fast, because people with years of experience in analogue engineering are not automatically gifted with digital audio smarts. Fortunately, Allnic’s founder and designer Kang Su Park called on the digital skills of fellow Korean audio experts, Waversa Systems. Waversa’s stamp on the D-10000 means the DAC can convert PCM signals to DSD or upsample PCM in multiples up to 352kHz or 384kHz.

Exceptional Standards

Like all Allnic designs, the D-10000 is finished to an exceptional standard throughout and reminiscent of classic valve/tube amp designs of the Golden Age of the late 1950s/early 1960s. The two glowing meters for biasing and tube health aid that look, but aside from a few orange LEDs, you could be mistaken for thinking it a new-old-stock Scott or Marantz tuner from 60 or more years ago. 

Allnic Audio also makes several OTL/OCL line-stage preamplifiers, but don’t think you need to use that degree of sonic performance to hear what the D-10000 can do; you can hear its character shining through on even the humblest amplifiers. 

Allnic Audio D-10000 DAC

We’ve already touched on a few of the ‘breed characteristics’ common to OTL/OCL designs (low coloration, unobstructed dynamic range), but there’s one important consideration that perhaps defines everything about the D-10000; the way it represents an ideal line-level load for an amplifier. It’s practically an impedance archetype that comes across as an exceptionally low-noise, powerfully engaging sound from the first bars of the first piece of music you play. It doesn’t matter whether that is Barber’s Adagio or Justin Bieber’s ‘Love Yourself’; those first bars come as something of a shock, and the rest follow suit.

Big and bold

Throughout, the sound could be described as big and bold. Not in an overblown way, just in that full and rich way of open-reel or good vinyl. It doesn’t try to replicate the sound of older formats – it still has that clean and direct sound full of detail and information that the format does so well. However, it’s also got that cogent scale and size that vinyl does so well. What I mean is when listening to a small orchestral piece, moving down to a small jazz combo or string quartet, then trading up to something with maximum bombast (usually Mahler), the size and scale of the music changes, but has a sense of body that is often missing from digital replay. 

Allnic’s D-10000 DAC points to an interesting dichotomy in digital audio reviewing. The vocabulary used to write about digital and analogue are often very different. But with the Allnic, I found my words tended more toward the analogue. As I said, not in an artificial way; more that the music sounded more vivid and ‘real’; full-bodied and enjoyable rather than cool. Unless you are at the very top of the digital audio tree, this will make a lot of digital audio move from ‘cool’ to ‘sterile’ sounding, and a lot of its rivals that go for a more organic sound do so at the expense of detail, which the D-10000 never does.

I Got Tone

Some of this comes down to its frankly lovely presentation. Guitarists often talk about ‘tone’ and spend a small fortune on pickups, pedals and power to try and create the right tone. Often, tone comes down as much to the player’s style as to the electronics, but the D-10000 is a natural at this tone thing; I think it’s something to do with the harmonic structure of its sound, or maybe the gain and output impedance being so good a match to preamplifier stages. 

Still, you find yourself smiling along to wry vocals and playing air guitar along with the music that bit more. This is a hard and abstract thing to describe but immediately understandable on audition.

Allnic’s only DAC demands the best in music, however. And that might sound odd coming from someone who cited Justin Bieber a few paragraphs ago but stay with me on this. It showed the Justin Bieber track as surprisingly dynamic if incredibly forward and close-mic’d. What the Allnic D-10000 cannot abide are thin and compressed-sounding recordings. The tracks where there’s no harmonic joy to be had – such as ‘Californication’ by the Red Hot Chili Peppers from the album of the same name [Warners] – is thrown into sharp accent. Fortunately, the worst excesses of the Loudness War are behind us, but the Allnic D-10000 doesn’t suffer these musical fools gladly.

One of the best

It feels somehow wrong to criticise the Allnic D-1000 for the worst excesses of badly produced albums. In fairness, that was about as close as this gets to criticism. In almost every musical case it brought out the best of the music. It didn’t matter whether it was fed from a Hegel Mohican CD through S/PDIF, or via USB from an Innuos Statement Next Gen streamer. It gives music a structure and dimensionality that is hard to beat at any price.

There will always be those who claim a top-class DAC must always have a custom digital converter at its heart. But Allnic Audio’s D-10000 shows the importance of a well-produced output stage. It helps make one of the best DACs in the world. And that’s outside of matching OTL/OCL preamps and power amps. That could raise the game still further and perhaps be the best digital audio sound ever. 

Technical specifications

  • Type: OTL/OCL DAC
  • Tubes/Valves used: 2 × 7258, 2 × 12AU7, 4 × 6C19P
  • Digital inputs: 1 Optical (“Toslink”), 1 USB, 1 AES/EBU digital (XLR), 2 coaxial digital (RCA). Can be configured at factory as 2 COAX, 1 COAX/1 BNC, or 2 BNC
  • Analogue outputs: One pair unbalanced (RCA), One pair  balanced (XLR)
  • DAC:Dual mono ES9018K2M SABRE 32 Reference Audio DACs
  • Formats supported: DoP SD 64, DSD 128, PCM 44.1 KHz, 48 KHz, 88.2 KHz, 96 KHz, 176.4 KHz, 192 KHz, 352.8 KHz and 384 KHz.
  • Output voltage: 4V RMS (can be fixed at 1.6V RMS at factory)
  • Output impedance: 50Ω 
  • Finishes: Black, natural aluminium
  • Dimensions (W×D×H): 43 × 32 × 17cm
  • Weight: 13.06kg
  • Price: $19,000

Manufacturer

Allnic Audio

www.allnicaudio.com

International distributor

Kevalin Audio

www.kevalinaudio.com

+1 503-292-5592

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Triangle Borea Connect

February 19, 2024 – This year Triangle have shipped their highly anticipated Borea Connect range, which introduces two new active models packed with Class D amplification, on-board DA conversion and a wealth of connectivity.

Equal Parts Elegant & Compact

Triangle’s Borea Connect range aims to deliver audiophile sound quality along with unlimited home audio connectivity, all in a single compact package. From smartphones to TVs and record decks, every source is right at home with Borea Connect.

Despite the small footprints of the BR02 and BR03 Connect models, each model packs 50W and 60W per side respectively with the ability to comfortably fill rooms of up to 20 and 35 square metres.

Streaming-Ready

Each Borea Connect speaker system benefits from the very latest-generation Bluetooth 5.0 APTX HD low latency technology. Streaming from any smartphone or Bluetooth device renders incredible sampling rates of up to 24 bits and 48kHz instantaneously, ensuring high definition listening with accurate dynamics.

For users sporting alternative digital sources, BR02 and BR03 models also come equipped with TOSLink and coaxial inputs, ARC for immersive theatre and CEC-enabled TV connectivity via HDMI, and a USB-B input giving any computer instant access to the speaker’s built-in DA conversion.

No Vinyl Left Behind

In a testament to Triangle’s one-system ethos, Borea Connect models also ship with a built-in phono stage for direct connection to turntables. For other analogue devices, users can take advantage of a 3.5mm mini-jack input perfect for auditioning non-digital sources in a flash.

Both BR02 and BR03 models also include a dedicated subwoofer output perfect for extending the low end on electronic music.

Available Now!

Borea Connect models are available in 6 colours – Oak, Black, Green, Light Oak, Blue and Cream. For further information on specs, pricing and availability, contact SCV’s home audio sales team.

Exposure Electronics launches 360 turntable

February 16, 2024 – Music lovers looking for the perfect deck to partner with their much-loved Exposure Electronics hi-fi components need look no further: the new Exposure 360 turntable has arrived.

British hi-fi brand Exposure Electronics is, as the company’s full name suggests, one whose focus tends to be firmly on electronics. With the launch of its first ever turntable, does this mean that the company is diversifying?

“Not exactly,” says Exposure. “This is more a case of ‘you asked, we listened’. Our customers have, for a while, been asking us for an Exposure turntable that seamlessly complements our range of electronics.”

The new Exposure 360 has been crafted in collaboration with a leading British turntable manufacturer and is designed to be that ‘perfect partner’ for the Exposure range, as well as being in keeping with the company’s ethos of creating products “that consistently outperform their direct competitors at prices that are as astounding as their performance”.

The turntable is built around a super lightweight plinth, in which a core of polyurethane foam (a material developed for the aerospace industry) is sandwiched between an extremely thin and rigid high-pressure laminate.

A dual-layer float glass platter, whose increased mass is designed for high speed stability, sits atop the sub-platter, which in turn is part of the bearing assembly and comprises a single piece of machined aluminium, also designed for enhanced speed stability. The bearing features an ultra-low friction brass hub which is anchored to the plinth using a machined aluminium collar.

The low-noise, synchronous 24V motor is driven by an aluminium drive pulley with belt. A dedicated, separate power supply, which is hand-tuned and precision-matched to the motor for each individual turntable, prevents unwanted noise from entering the turntable and ensures that delicate low-level signals are protected from potential sources of interference. The power supply unit provides push-button speed selection, advanced anti-vibration control and electronic fine speed adjustment.

The 360’s integrated tonearm features an arm tube designed using intelligent redistribution of mass to ensure fewer points of possible resonance, while its mounting is braced to the bearing housing to ensure maximum rigidity and accuracy.

Isolation feet are made from santoprene rubber and reinforced by aluminium.

The 360 turntable features Exposure’s signature minimalist design, and comes in a grey matt finish with high gloss black polymer edge trim and a distinctive vibrant red turntable mat. The turntable is supplied with a smoked polystyrene dust cover and is suitable for use with MC, MM or other cartridges (not included).

Technical specifications

Connectivity RCA / phono
Power Mini DIN for connection to supplied PSU
Turntable dimensions (lid closed) 447mm (w) x 120mm (h) x 360mm (d)
PSU dimensions 180mm (w) x 50mm (h) x 155mm (d)
Weight 5.2kg

Pricing & availability

The Exposure 360 turntable is available now, priced at £1,300 (incl. VAT).

Album Review: Mahler Symphony No 5, Berlin PO, Claudio Abbado

When Deutsche Grammophon released Claudio Abbado’s Berlin recording of Mahler’s 5th symphony on CD in 1993, the notion that – in 30 or so years time – DG would issue it on LP would have seemed absurd; impossible; stark staring bonkers.

Abbado’s Mahler 5 was one of DG’s first 4D recordings. Taken from live performances given in the Berlin Philharmonie, it’s a powerful refined account with smooth, open, natural sound, and an enormously-wide dynamic range. A to D converters were used close to the microphones in order to digitise signals as soon as possible. 

The performance lasts a shade under 70m and for vinyl it’s spread over four LP sides. Previous vinyl issues nearly always put Mahler 5 on three sides. This meant having the first two movements on side one, resulting in a fairly long playing time around the 27m to 29m mark.

Abbado takes a little over 27m for the first two movements, but with each on a single LP side there’s no problem for the disc mastering engineer having to try and cut a long side while maintaining a fairly high volume level. However, cutting levels are not especially high. They might easily have been raised 3dB or more. I want to see nice deep squiggly grooves! 

Fortunately, the surfaces on DG’s new pressings are super-quiet. Vinyl roar and surface ticks and pops are very low, so you can increase volume levels and not hear any background noise. My pressings were very clean and quiet, though side three was a wee bit ‘swishy’ in places – hopefully a fault limited to my particular set. 

Comparing Abbado’s Mahler 5 LPs with Karajan’s (released in 1975), the older set is cut at the same peak level but subjectively the sound has more immediacy and heft. That said Karajan’s climaxes sometimes feel slightly compressed – perhaps due to analogue tape squash.

On my equipment, Abbado’s smooth sweet-sounding recording has less immediacy than Karajan’s, which is sharper and more-focused. Tonally, DG’s best 4D recordings sounded very natural and open with no fake digital brightness or glare, but could sometimes sound almost too neutral.

It sounds like Abbado’s Tonmeister Gernot von Schultzendorff used a simple microphone technique. The 4D process allowed time-delay, enabling close and distantly-placed microphones to integrate-better and create phase-coherent results. So perhaps that’s why any spot-mics used are so discreet.

From a balance and perspective standpoint, there’s no question that Abbado’s Berlin Mahler 5 is much less ‘stage managed’ than many of DG’s recordings from the previous 15 years or so. You sense the sound captured is just as it happened, live in the hall.

The Philharmonie in Berlin is an unusual hall, placing the orchestra in the centre of the auditorium rather than an enclosed space near a rear wall. Abbado’s performance was recorded in front of an audience (with applause at the end), so this would have damped the sound somewhat. 

Abbado’s Mahler 5 is sumptuously played – sleek, powerful, trenchant, with exquisite detail. It’s a refined sophisticated virtuoso rendition. Surprisingly, Karajan is less polished, but more passionate, throwing caution to the wind for the excitement of the moment. His Adagietto is to die for. 

Both are superlative readings, and stand high among the best Mahler 5s. But does being on vinyl add anything extra to the Abbado/Berlin set over CD/SACD? I’m not sure it does. Abbado’s vinyl sounds good, but the SACD showcases the original recording with far greater fidelity.

Abbado’s vinyl doesn’t quite give you that extra sense of holographic-dimensionality and spacious-richness that’s there with DG’s Kubelik and Karajan Mahler 5 LPs. It’s good, but would have sounded much-more vivid if cutting levels had been a few dB higher… 

https://www.deutschegrammophon.com/en

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Album Review: The World In Air Quotes by The God in Hackney

The core members of The God in Hackney are Andy Cooke (guitars, vocals, piano, loops, samples), Dan Fox (guitars, bass, vocals, piano, synths, samples), Ashley Marlowe (drums, synthesizer, noise channels) and Nathaniel Mellors vocals, piano, bass guitar, synths, samples, FX). As a whole, The God in Hackney sound is difficult to pigeon hole and that’s part of its appeal; this band has makes music like few others. 

For this project, the group expanded their line-up to include multi-instrumentalists and composers Eve Essex and Kelly Pratt (Father John Misty, David Byrne/St Vincent). The God in Hackney are from Los Angeles, but the music they make is almost as English as it gets with deep roots in the avant garde and art rock worlds. Foreign culture is often more appealing than one’s own and frequently encourages more thorough investigation, and that at least seems to be the case here.

They are excellent musicians and highly inventive composers with more than an eye on the way the music is shaped. The World in Air Quotes opens with ‘In The Face of a New Science’ which is lyrically the best song on the album, with lines like “No one told us our reasoning was becoming unreasonable” and some beautiful if sombre trumpet playing. Like many pieces on the album it builds both lyrically and musically to a restrained crescendo and them morphs down to an acoustic denouement. The songwriter clearly has a sense of dread but mixes it with subtle humour.

‘Heaven & Black Water’ is the most conventional song on the album, with a 4/4 beat and an 1980s influenced structure. Here the vocal has been given the autotune treatment, possibly in an attempt to broaden its appeal or maybe just for the sake of variety, I suspect that the latter is more likely. The guitar on ‘Bardo!’ could be Andy Summers, the lyrics have something of The Police’s darkest moments about them too but the multiplication of voices and the introduction of caustic saxophone take it to a much heavier place. This piece gets intense and is a test of any system’s timing, with clangy chords, mucho percussion and a mercifully abrupt finale.

‘Interstate 5’ is a standout piece with superb drum playing and kit sound that’s occasionally manipulated but largely straight and true. Its joined by bass before a silent bridge after which the combo are joined by guitar and eventually keyboards. The final quarter could be John Wetton era King Crimson such is the ferocity of the bass sound. The other clear highlight is ‘Broken Pets’ where clean and distorted guitar are contrasted to good effect with a song that comes across like a British urban blues inasmuch as there is nothing in the arrangement to suggest the blues save for the nature of the lyrics. The piece is full of tension that’s produced by a glitchy electronica and brass backing; this threatens to break open at any moment like a vast sinkhole appearing in a cul-de-sac. 

Dark undercurrents circulate around all 11 songs on The World in Air Quotes yet the overall feel is not one of misery. The God in Hackney do their best to sound British and are very convincing yet clearly they don’t have to endure the grimy reality of life in a down at heel if fashionable London suburb, nor the grey skies of winter. ‘A Frozen Western’ is the only song with American influences, primarily these are provided by a B-52s beat over discordant electric guitar, snappy snare drum and tremulous trumpet. It gets pretty chaotic but just about holds together, which makes it all the more rewarding.

The World in Air Quotes is a well-produced album with very appealing sound sculpting that’s achieved by giving the voice and instruments their own distinct acoustic shapes. The way that some tracks are reinforced with deep bass is also very appealing, adding to the sense of layering and giving the sound real depth. Not for the faint of heart but not challenging either The World in Air Quotes should put The God in Hackney on the map, maybe even in Hackney.

https://thegodinhackney.bandcamp.com/album/the-world-in-air-quotes

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